Immigrants Rush To Wed

Rumors About New Ins Regulations Are Causing Many Migrants Without Documentation To Marry U.s. Citizens Before The Rules Become Effective On April 1.

March 24, 1997|By Rachel Melcer, Tribune Staff Writer.

In a long silver-gray dress reminiscent of one worn to a high school dance, Adriana Bernalas, 16, joined the crush of undocumented immigrants lining up recently to get married at City Hall.

She and her new husband, Rene Silva, 20, who is a U.S. citizen, have an 8-month-old daughter at home, and they had planned to get married eventually. But their decision to proceed came all of a sudden, in a new kind of shotgun wedding.

Like so many other immigrants rushing to tie the knot, they are worried that federal regulations going into effect April 1 could lead to Adriana's deportation.

There seems to be little reason--besides the machinations and the misinformation of the immigrant grapevine--to expect a big crackdown. Still, many immigrants believe there is a practical reason to get married. And, in their eyes, it is the federal government holding the shotgun.

Cook County Clerk David Orr said his office has issued 50 percent more marriage licenses in February and early March of this year, compared with the same time in 1996. He attributed that to confusion over the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1996.

"It has been an incredible burden. We don't know when it will ease up," he said.

Marriage Court Judge Arthur Rosenblum has witnessed the rush to the secular altar. He and two other judges usually marry 50 couples on a Saturday morning, but one day this month they performed 249 five-minute ceremonies, a number usually seen only on Valentine's Day. The number of weekday weddings has grown to about 80 each day from 40.

Rosenblum asks each bride and bridegroom about their native country and citizenship status. Checking the personal tally he keeps on a yellow legal pad, the judge estimated that 90 percent of the people in the recent influx are Hispanic and nearly all couples involve one undocumented immigrant.

The irony, according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, is that the new law does not change legalization procedures for undocumented immigrants married to permanent U.S. residents or citizens. And, though they may be given special consideration, spouses who are in the country illegally still can be deported.

Still, with change in the air and rumors rampant, there is a palpable fear among undocumented immigrants.

"It's a period of crisis because there is no easy one-two-three explanation of what's going to happen," said Carlos Arango, executive director of Casa Aztlan, an umbrella social service organization in the Pilsen neighborhood. "INS is not putting any information out. Nobody in the government is putting any information out."

Though Arango's staff members have taken thousands of calls from concerned Hispanic immigrants, they have few answers to the barrage of questions.

"The bottom line is that everybody is getting very antsy," Arango said. "They don't know what's going to happen . . . but the view of the community is that it's going to be very bad."

Added Orr: "There is a credibility gap between non-citizens and what officials say. Part of the problem, in the last couple of years, has been all the anti-immigrant sentiment."

INS spokesman Brian Jordan said that there have been attempts to work with community groups and the media, but that is a difficult task given that some regulations for dealing with the new law have not yet been written. Officials at the INS Chicago district office just received their training materials, though immigrants have been hounding them with questions for weeks.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act is designed to streamline the deportation process, said David Venturella, acting deputy director of the INS Chicago district.

But, although it beefs up the number of INS investigators and border patrols, the law does not provide for any new crackdown or roundup of undocumented immigrants who have not committed a crime, Venturella said.

In actuality, immigration laws have always made some exceptions for undocumented immigrants who support legal resident children, spouses or other relatives. And those who are married to U.S. citizens or permanent residents may remain here while applying to become legal residents--if they pay a $1,000 fee.

Undocumented immigrants without the benefit of marriage or some other tie to the United States are deported or asked to leave, according to Jordan. As punishment, they are not allowed to re-enter the country right away.

The much-hyped date of April 1 simply sets the clock running on some new regulations.

If an undocumented citizen is in the United States for more than 180 days but less than one year from that date and voluntarily leaves the country, he can apply to return in just three years. But if he waits until after April 1, 1998, to leave or is involuntarily deported, he cannot reapply for a decade.

What is not changing, though, is the government's dim view of sham marriages to smooth the way to citizenship.